


The Fork in the Road

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: The High School Series [13]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Bullying, F/M, Flirting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Chloe Sullivan, Kissing, Lex knows more than he lets on, Lionel Luthor is a dick, Lionel Luthor's ulterior motives, Teasing, Temporary truces, The Enemy of My Enemy, Threats, Unexpected Allies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23986690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Oliver confronts Lionel.
Relationships: Chloe Sullivan & Gabe Sullivan, Chloe Sullivan & Lex Luthor, Oliver Queen & Lex Luthor, Oliver Queen & Lionel Luthor, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: The High School Series [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728691
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

  


“Okay, so.” Oliver emerged from the small kitchen in Chloe’s house, carrying a plate of food. He’d cut class to spend the day with her because her dad was in Metropolis for the day, and she’d only been out of the hospital for two days and he didn’t think she should be alone. “Here, we have a healthy lunch of chicken lasagna, salad, a milkshake, and some garlic bread.” He grinned, pleased with himself.

“I don’t think I could eat all of that,” she said, grinning up at him as she pushed her laptop away on the dining room table. “We’re gonna have to clean every trace that that kitchen has been cooked in, otherwise Dad will know I had guests.”

He nodded slightly. “I’ll get that done while you eat. You can tell him a friend dropped off the leftovers?”

“No, Ollie.” She frowned, pouting a little. “Sit down and eat with me.”

He smiled a little and sat down across from her.

She smiled at him and cocked her head a little. “So, have you heard any updates from Mr. Sutton?” She asked as she pushed the plate between them with her good hand. The man had told Oliver that Lionel had indeed bid on his parents’ company but that he would stop him, at any cost.

“He’s filed an injunction,” he told her. “It’ll stop Lionel from being able to do anything, at least temporarily.” 

“Good,” she breathed, reaching for his hand with her good one and watching him closely. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” He linked his fingers through hers, nodding.

“Promise?” She asked, cocking her head and squeezing his hand. “I know you must be worried but, at least we’re on to him before he did anything.”

“I’m all right,” he promised. He kissed her knuckles lightly. “Thanks to you the Luthors won’t be in control of my company. In a few months, it’ll be mine legally. All I gotta do is stall Lionel until then.” 

“Well, if all else fails, we can lock him up in that basement of his until you’re eighteen,” she said, standing up and stepping closer to him. “I don’t think anyone will notice.” 

“Except the ghost.” He arched his eyebrows, moving closer to her, too.

“If she haunts him, he’ll have deserved it.” She smiled, leaning in and kissing him softly.

“Yes, he will,” he agreed, resting his forehead against hers.

“I missed you,” she whispered, pulling her arm from the sling and wrapping her arms around him as well as she could. She had only seen him briefly at the hospital and then her dad had been home with her all day when she was allowed to leave so they had only texted a few times. 

“I’ve missed you, too. And in case I didn’t say it before...I’m really glad you’re okay.” His voice was quiet.

“I’m glad you’re okay, too,” she said quietly, tightening her good arm around him. “Has he been giving you a hard time since?” She knew Lionel wasn’t going to be happy they had stopped his plans, or at least, delayed them.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” he assured her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I don’t think he has any idea I tipped off Mr. Sutton.” 

“Good,” she breathed. “Hopefully it will stay that way,” she told him, arching her eyebrows a little. “Just keep your head down.”

“I always do,” he said, nodding.

“Now you do,” she said, smiling a little then taking a deep breath and kissing him again, not as softly as before. She had been terrified that Lionel had gotten to him when she found out about the buyout and then, not being able to really see him for days and the scare of her accident, she just wanted him close.

“Point.” He flashed her a charming grin, arching his eyebrows and kissing her back.

Chloe couldn’t help but smile at the grin even as her heart skipped a beat. She hesitantly deepened the kiss and tightened her good arm around him. 

“All right. Stop trying to seduce me. You need to eat,” he teased, guiding her back to her seat at the table.

She made a face at him and sat back down, not that with her broken arm it was very practical, but still. “You know, you don’t have to be so _respectful_ all the time, right?” She said, smirking mischievously as she picked up her fork. Truth was, she’d been getting a little impatient to explore more with him. 

“Trust me, when you get that cast off and you’re all healed, I won’t be.” He gave her a look, his eyes filled with promise.

“I’ll hold you to that,” she said, grinning a little then took a deep breath and took a bite of the lasagna.

He watched her face, holding his breath to see if she liked it. 

She sighed a little and shook her head. “You are not allowed to come over every day and feed me,” she told him, reaching for another bite. “I’ll never stop eating.”

He grinned at that, his eyes bright. “What if I like feeding you?” 

“You can’t,” she said pointedly but smiled. “Can you make mac and cheese?”

“It comes in a box,” he said, giving her a look.

“No,” Chloe frowned, holding out the fork to him to see if he wanted some of the enormous amount of food he had set down in front of her. “From scratch, with fresh cheeses and stuff.”

“Oh.” He took a bite of the lasagna, chewing and swallowing. “Yeah, I could probably do that.” 

She smiled a little at that and picked up the milkshake, sipping on it. “My mom used to make it, when I was little,” she admitted quietly.

He paused, glancing over at her and then nodding slightly. “How old were you?” he asked quietly. “When she left?” 

“Eight,” she told him quietly, taking another bite of the food and chewing slowly. 

“Pretty young,” he murmured, watching her. It was something he could relate to, in a way. He’d been nine when his parents had died.

She held her breath and shrugged a little. “I wish I had been younger,” she admitted. “That way I wouldn’t remember her as well, you know?”

His chest tightened painfully, and he nodded. “Yeah.” 

Chloe glanced over at him and stilled, wincing and shaking her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, reaching for his hand. 

“Don’t be,” he said sincerely, giving her hand a squeeze. 

She watched him for a moment and took a deep breath. “You were nine, weren’t you?” She whispered, she had read plenty on him, and she wanted to give him the opportunity to talk about it, if he wanted to.

He pursed his lips, nodding slightly. “Yeah.” He looked down for a moment. “The night before their plane crash, my dad and I got into an argument. My last words to him weren’t good ones.” 

Her face fell and she squeezed his hand. “What happened?”

“They were leaving on another business trip and they’d just gotten back the day before. I was tired of being left behind all the time.” He held his breath for a moment. “I was angry. I felt like they cared more about QI than they did about me.” 

She pursed her lips together and nodded a little. “You just wanted to be around them, I’m sure they knew that.”

“I hope so,” he said quietly.

“They did,” she assured him. She had no way of knowing, but it was better than him thinking otherwise. “I’m sure they’d have stayed home if they could, Ollie.”

“I know that now,” he admitted, nodding. 

“When you are done with Lionel, I want to tell dad about you,” she whispered to him. “I think you will get along when he really gets to know you.” And maybe he would feel more like he had a family.

He smiled faintly. “I’d like that,” he agreed, squeezing her hand. “Maybe I can impress him with my culinary skills,” he joked.

“You will,” she assured him. “Maybe next Christmas you can spend it here with us. And cook for us,” she teased.

His expression brightened at that. The idea of spending another Christmas with Chloe had its own appeal, but the fact that she was thinking of them long-term was what really pleased him. “I’ve never made a turkey before.” 

She grinned a little at the look on his face and reluctantly let go of his hand to go back to eating. “Well, what about a turkey lasagna? We don’t have to be traditional about it.”

“That would be good, I think,” he said, nodding as he considered the possibility. 

“Eat more,” she told him, finally taking a bite of the salad he had made, pausing when her computer alerted her of a new email and turning her attention toward it.

“Uh oh. She’s been summoned,” he teased, reaching out and tearing off a small piece of the garlic bread, taking a bite.

“It’s about the accident,” she told him, pulling up the email and downloading the attached document. “My friend who works at the station is sending me a copy of the investigation.”

He frowned at that. “Just standard stuff, right?” 

Chloe read the document in silence for a moment, her eyes widening as she held her breath and shook her head a little. “Hm. No.”

“No?” There was confusion in his voice. “What does it say?” 

She chewed on the inside of her mouth. “That my brakes were tampered with. Apparently the brake lines had been cut.”

His eyes widened at that, stomach tightening. “ _What?_ ” 

“That’s what this says,” she whispered, turning the computer toward him.

Shifting closer, Oliver stared at the email, reading it quickly and blinking a few times. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why the hell would anyone want to cut your brake lines?” 

“I have pissed plenty of people off with my articles,” she said quietly, pursing her lips together. “Although, not lately.”

“And hopefully not enough that they actually want to kill you.” He frowned, rising to his feet, and shaking his head. 

She shook her head and held her breath. “I don’t think so, but...” she hesitated, looking over at him. “Maybe Lionel did.”

“Why, though?” he asked, shaking his head again even as dread filled him. He remembered Lionel’s words--that the consequences of _his_ actions would affect other people. The color drained from his face.

“What if he somehow knew I was trying to warn you?” She whispered, shaking her head and pausing when she saw the look on his face. “What is it?”

“He knows about us,” he whispered, his heart beating hard in his chest. “He knows I’d been coming over here to stay.” 

“Can you be sure?” She asked, sitting up and holding her breath.

“No, but it makes sense. Think about it. The same night that you were calling to warn me about the buy-out was the same night Lionel busted me for spending the night outside the mansion and the same night you got into the accident. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” 

She took a deep breath and nodded a little, rubbing her good hand over her face. It did make sense, and considering it had been weeks since he had started staying over, it was odd that Lionel would choose that day to say something.

Anger began to seep into Oliver’s veins and he clenched his fists at his sides. “I’ll be back to help you clean up,” he said, voice deadly calm as he headed out of the dining room.

Chloe stood up and quickly followed. “Where are you going?” She asked, her voice tight.

“To talk to Lionel,” he answered, not looking back at her as he made his way to the front door.

“Ollie, wait!” She called, following him out but he was faster. “Oliver!” She yelled as she made her way outside, just in time to see him getting in his car and speeding off. “Goddamnit, Oliver,” she muttered, her jaw clenched. It wasn’t like she had a car to try and follow him and even if her bug had been there, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to catch him on time regardless. All she could do was hope that Lionel didn’t kill him and if he was gone too long, she would have no choice but to have someone else drive her to the mansion.

* * * 

He made it back to the mansion in less than ten minutes, not even sure if he managed to shut the engine off before climbing out of it, slamming the door behind him and storming inside the large house. He was so angry he was literally shaking, completely ignoring the staff as he moved past them, heading for the study.

Lionel had heard the commotion outside, it was impossible not to. So he checked the security cameras on his laptop and arched an eyebrow when he saw Oliver heading for the study. With a deep breath, he stood up and headed over to the wet bar to pour himself a drink.

“Who the _hell_ do you think you are?” he demanded, slamming the door open so hard it made a dent in the wall behind it.

“For the time being,” he said calmly, turning around to face him with a full glass in his hand. “I am your guardian, I believe we have cleared this up last time we spoke.”

“You’re also a killer,” Oliver accused, hate in his eyes. “You tried to kill Chloe Sullivan.” 

“That is a very serious accusation to throw around, Oliver.” He kept his voice and expression neutral.

“And cutting someone’s brakes or having someone else cut their brakes is a very serious crime, _Lionel_.” 

“Is that what happened with Ms. Sullivan’s accident?” He asked, walking back to his chair and sitting down. 

“You would know, since you’re behind it.” Oliver’s jaw tightened. “Just be a real man and admit it. Oh, wait. You don’t know anything about being a real man, do you? You’re just a sick coward.” 

“You seem very certain of this,” he said with a cold smile appearing on his lips. “Do you have any evidence to prove what you’re saying?”

“I don’t _need_ evidence,” he informed Lionel, voice cold.

“It’s true, then, _Dad_?” Lex’s cold voice came from the door as he entered the room. 

Oliver turned quickly at the sound of Lex’s voice, caught off guard by the other man’s sudden appearance. He narrowed his eyes, jaw clenching once more.

But Lex paid Oliver no attention, his own jaw was clenched in place and his eyes were narrowed as he approached the older man’s desk. “What kind of threat could a _high school girl_ pose to one of the most powerful men in the world?” He demanded. “Or did you want to kill her just for fun?”

Lionel’s eyes narrowed, as well and he considered his son for a moment. “Oliver is slinging unfounded accusations,” he said calmly.

“Bullshit,” Oliver snapped.

“Are they as unfounded as the accusations Dr. Swann made about you crashing the Queen’s plane?” Lex asked, straightening as a cold smirk to rival Lionel’s appeared on his mouth.

At that, Oliver turned his head slowly to stare at Lex, heart beating heavily in his chest. “What did you say?” 

“What you heard,” Lex said evenly, keeping his eyes on his dad. “But I’m sure it’s just business, right, _Dad_?”

“I’d suggest that in the future, both of you keep your rampant _theories_ to yourselves,” Lionel said, looking at each of them in turn. 

“Stay away from my friends and we may have a deal,” Lex told him before turning to leave the room. He glanced at Oliver on his way out, a hint of a warning in his eyes, then left. 

Oliver watched him go, then moved forward, resting his hands on Lionel’s desk and staring at him intently. “You tried to kill Chloe,” he said, his voice barely containing the anger he felt. The hatred. “If I find out what Lex said is true. If you had _anything_ to do with what happened to my parents?” He leaned closer. “I _will_ end you,” he whispered. “And if you come after her again to get to me?” His jaw tightened. “It’ll be the last thing you ever do.” Without waiting for a response, he stormed out of the study.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been almost two hours since Oliver had left when Chloe couldn’t wait anymore. She was worried sick about him, with no way of getting to the mansion and when she tried his cell, it had rang on the kitchen table, so after only a second’s hesitation, she tried Lex’s number instead. Pacing the living room as it rang.

“Hey, Chloe,” Lex said when he answered her call.

“Lex, hi,” she breathed, closing her eyes for a moment. “Are you at the mansion?”

He paused. “Yeah, why? What’s going on?” 

“Is Oliver there?” She asked quietly, holding her breath.

There was a long moment of silence. “Why?” 

“I think he might be in trouble. Just answer me, Lex. Please?” She asked. She trusted Lex, even if she was more and more afraid of what his dad was capable of, she had known him for years and she knew he considered her a friend so maybe, she could explain things to him eventually but now there wasn’t time.

He sighed heavily. “No. He stormed out of here over an hour ago. I don’t know where he went.” 

“And he was okay?” She asked, holding her breath.

“Really pissed off, but yeah. He was fine.” 

Chloe let out a breath and nodded a little. “Okay. Thank you. Thanks for telling me.”

“What’s going on with you two?” Lex asked, tone unreadable. 

She pursed her lips together at that. “Can we talk about this on Monday? I should be back in school by then. I just don’t know if the phone is safe,” she told him quietly, her stomach tight.

“It probably isn’t,” he told her. “We’ll talk Monday.” 

“Okay.” She relaxed a little. “Are _you_ okay?”

“I’m fine. But you should check your phone and have Oliver do the same. I already checked mine, but I’m sure the mansion is bugged.” 

Her eyes widened and her stomach clenched but she nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Be careful,” he told her before hanging up the phone.

Chloe blew out a breath as she hung up, staring at it for a moment before quickly reaching to open it. She had no idea what Lex knew, but she wasn’t going to ignore his advice.

* * * 

It was nearly eleven that night when he returned to her house. All the lights in the house were dark, but he was sure she was there. It only took him a couple moments to climb the large tree that led to her bedroom window. He scooted carefully out onto the thick branch, knocking softly on the window and waiting.

She was in bed but she was far from being able to sleep, when she heard the knock, she sat up quickly and her eyes widened as she sat up on the bed and even more when she saw him pressed against her window. She got up quickly and pulled the window open as fast as she could with her one hand.

“Can I come in?” He didn’t meet her eyes. His voice was barely audible, and he looked tired, which he was. Exhausted, really.

“Of course.” She frowned, a worried look on her face as she held her good hand out to him. “I was worried sick about you.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly. He carefully maneuvered himself through the window, then turned and slid it shut behind him, exhaling slowly. “Sorry to worry you.” 

She didn’t like his tone or the way he was moving. It was almost robotic. So as soon as the window was closed, she stepped in front of him and searched his eyes. “What happened?”

“He didn’t deny it.” He still didn’t look directly at her. “Lex overheard our conversation.” 

“So he knows,” she breathed. That explained why he had talked to her the way he had. She lifted her right hand to his chin and turned his face a little. “What did Lionel say?”

He drew in a shaky breath, shaking his head slightly and shutting his eyes. 

“Ollie?” She whispered quietly, her stomach tight when he refused to look at her. But she didn’t pull away, she reached for his hand and held onto it tightly. “Do you need to sit down?”

Oliver opened his eyes to look at her, nodding and slowly moving to sit down on the edge of her bed. He rubbed his free hand over his face. “Lionel said my accusations were unfounded. And Lex...” 

She stood in front of him, frowning hard, wondering if he was this upset over whatever Lex said more than over his conversation with Lionel. “What did Lex do?” She asked quietly, lifting a hand to cup his cheek.

“He asked Lionel if my accusations were unfounded the same way that Dr. Swann’s accusations about Lionel being behind my parents’ plane crash were unfounded,” he said dully.

Her stomach dropped at that and her eyes widened. “Ollie,” she whispered, unsure what to say. “What did Lionel say to that?” Although between Lex’s advice earlier and the fact that he had thrown this at his dad in front of Oliver, she had no doubt that he believed Lionel was behind it.

“That we needed to be careful about throwing around our theories,” he told her, looking up at her finally. 

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, holding his gaze. She wished even more now that she hadn’t let him go. 

“If it’s true.” His jaw tightened slightly. “He dies.” 

“Shh,” she told him. “We’ll figure it out. For now, we need to focus on keeping you safe and away from him.”

“How? He’s my legal guardian. I can’t do anything about that until October.” 

“I don’t know.” She looked down, taking a deep breath. “But, both our phones were bugged.”

Oliver stared at her. “Are you serious?” 

“Yes,” she whispered quietly. “Lex warned me, I called him earlier when I couldn’t find you.” 

He shook his head a little. “How did you find the bugs?” 

“They were under the battery.” She sighed softly. “I already removed them, but maybe you and I should get disposable phones just in case?”

“Probably.” His jaw tightened and he looked down, shutting his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “I’m sorry you have to deal with him.”

He wound his arms around her waist, burying his face against her shoulder. “Do you think he did it?” His voice was muffled.

“I don’t know.” She leaned down and pressed her lips to the top of his head. “But we can find out, if you want.”

“I need to know,” he murmured, sounding very tired.

“We will look.” She rubbed his back soothingly with her good hand. “Maybe Lex knows more, maybe he will help us.”

“Lex hates me,” he reminded her, shutting his eyes and holding onto her.

“He doesn’t hate me,” she told him quietly, leaning her head over his and sighing softly. “And maybe he hates his dad more.”

Oliver somehow doubted that, but he didn’t say so. Just tightened his arms around her a little. 

“Let me talk to him,” she said, pulling him as close as she could. “If not, you and I will figure it out, I promise.”

He nodded against her silently, exhaling and pressing a kiss to her shoulder, through her night shirt. 

With a deep breath, she ran her fingers through his hair and pulled back just a little to look at him. “Do you want to take something? To help you relax? You can stay here with me all day tomorrow, when dad goes to work.”

“If I don’t go back to the mansion, Lionel will know,” he mumbled, looking pained. “I don’t want to put you in anymore danger than I already have.” 

“He had our phones bugged, Ollie. He already knows,” she said firmly. “I’m not letting you leave.”

He was too tired to put up much of a fight, so he simply nodded, rubbing his hands over his face. 

She leaned down and kissed his forehead, then reached to pull the covers down for him. “Lay down.”

Oliver crawled into her bed under the covers, curling one arm under her pillow and looking up at her, his chest tight.

Chloe leaned down and kissed him deeply, in what she hoped would be a comforting way. 

“Should you lock the door?” he asked after the kiss ended.

“I will,” she said quietly, watching him for a moment then moving over to the door and locking it. She wanted to make him feel better, but she had no idea how. “Do you need anything?” she asked as she got into bed next to him.

“I just need to hold you. Is that okay?” he asked quietly.

Her chest tightened and she nodded slightly. “Yeah,” she whispered, hesitating then shifting closer to him and sliding a little on the bed, unsure of how he meant.

He shifted closer, too, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to her cheek. He gently pulled her closer so her head was resting on his chest. “Is this okay?” 

She rested her broken arm over his chest and lifted her head to look at him then nodded. “It’s comfortable,” she whispered, leaning closer and kissing his cheek softly.

“If you get uncomfortable and I’m asleep don’t hesitate to move. Don’t worry about waking me up,” he told her, closing his eyes as he rested a hand on her back.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said quietly, watching him for a moment then laying down over his chest and sighing softly. At least she could do this much for him.

* * * 

The weekend wnt by slowly. Probably because Lex wanted answers, and he had to wait until Monday to get them, and that didn’t make him a happy camper. He was already annoyed by the time he got to school. Things at the mansion had been tense all weekend. Oliver hadn’t come home Friday night, and Lionel had been _pissed_. He was fairly sure the other man was going to be grounded for the rest of his stay in Smallville. 

Spotting Chloe, Lex made his way down the hall and toward her locker. “Hey.” 

Chloe held her breath when she turned around and saw Lex standing there, he never got to school this early. “Hey,” she greeted, turning to face him as she adjusted a book under her broken arm and closed the locker with her good one. 

“How’s the arm?” he asked, nodding toward her cast.

“Healing,” she told him quietly, pursing her lips together. “How are you?”

“All right. It was a long weekend.” He arched his eyebrows.

Chloe sighed softly at the look on his face and nodded. “I guess we have enough time to talk.” She was exhausted and worried, she hadn’t seen Oliver since Saturday when he left to go back to the mansion, but at least they had managed to text.

He nodded. “So you and Oliver.” It wasn’t a question, and he’d spent the weekend thinking about it and he felt a lot more calm about the whole thing than he had at first.

“Yeah,” she whispered but kept her eyes on him. She felt bad about not telling her friends but she wasn’t ashamed of their relationship. 

Lex pursed his lips. “It’s weird.” 

“Why?” She asked curiously. 

“Because I don’t get what you see in him,” he said with a shrug. “You could do better.” 

“You two don’t get along,” she told him, shrugging a little. “But he means a lot to me, Lex. And you’re my friend, my good friend, you have been for years. I hope I don’t have to pick one over the other.”

He started to respond when a couple of football jocks caught his attention a few feet away. They were being loud and annoying, as usual. He rolled his eyes and then focused his attention back on her once more. “What are you going to tell Clark? And Lana?” 

Chloe frowned a little at the jocks too then focused on Lex again. “I’m not worried about that right now,” she admitted. “There are other things I need to focus on,” she said pointedly.

Lex nodded slightly. “Like my father,” he said, voice tense.

“Yeah,” she whispered, looking down then back at him. “I wanted to talk to you about what you told Oliver. I wanted to ask you for your help,” she said sincerely.

He studied her for a moment, again momentarily distracted by the football players again, who’d moved closer, talking loudly. “Hey, do you _mind?_ ” he demanded, glaring at them.

“Oh, we’re bothering _Baldy_ ,” one of them laughed. 

“Yeah, we mind,” another said, walking closer. “Your daddy doesn’t own the school.”

He rolled his eyes, looking at Chloe. “Let’s go somewhere else,” he suggested. “Before they start flinging their shit at us. That’s what monkeys do.” 

Chloe’s eyes narrowed at the jocks then she nodded at Lex. “Yeah,” she whispered, turning around to start toward the Torch. 

Before Lex could move, however, the second jock, who was closer to him shoved him hard against the lockers. “I didn’t give you permission to leave, Luthor.”

Lex didn’t even have a chance to react because a second later, the jock was sprawled on the floor, looking stunned. 

“He doesn’t need your permission to do anything,” Oliver said, glaring down at him.

Chloe turned around, her eyes widening when she looked from the jock, to Lex, to Oliver. 

“You should--” the other jock began, taking a step forward.

Oliver took a step toward him. “I should _what?_ ” he demanded.

“ _You_ should leave,” Lex said angrily, his eyes narrowing and cold as he stood up straight again. “You should keep your mouth shut about this before you suffer much bigger consequences than a detention,” he told the jock dangerously. “And you should take him with you.”

The jocks glared at them, but got up and left, heading away in the opposite direction. 

Chloe took a deep breath as she looked between the two of them her heart beating fast against her chest. “Okay, let’s just all go to the Torch?” She asked, her eyes wide as she looked from Oliver, to Lex and back.

Oliver pursed his lips, looking at Lex silently and nodding his assent. 

Lex considered for a moment then nodded too and started toward the Torch. 

She pursed her lips together and glanced at Ollie, nodding slightly and waiting for him to walk upstairs.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, following Lex up the steps without a word. This was all too strange.

* * * 

As soon as they were all in, Chloe closed the door and kept the lights off. “Hopefully no one will come in here,” she said, turning to face the two of them. 

Oliver glanced at Lex, then at Chloe, not sure what to say. He moved over to sit down on the couch in front of the windows. 

“I know you two have a lot of issues you haven’t been able to get past,” she told the two of them. “But I think, all things considered, we would really be a lot better off if we stick together. I mean, you two were pretty great with those idiots.”

Oliver drew in a breath, looking over at Lex and meeting his gaze. “Truce?” His voice was uncertain.

Lex stared at him for a moment, then nodded. “For now,” he said tightly, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Chloe smiled softly at the two of them and nodded a little. “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

Oliver raked a hand through his hair. “So what now?” 

“Lex.” She leaned against her desk and watched him. “What you said about Ollie’s parents. What do you know?”

Lex looked at Oliver for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Chloe. “I overheard a phone conversation between Dr. Swann and my father. Swann was pretty convinced that my dad had something to do with their plane crash. A couple days later, Dr. Swann was dead.”

Chloe looked down and took a deep breath. “Because that doesn’t sound suspicious,” she said, glancing over at Oliver. “Do you still have access to anything of Dr. Swann’s? We might be able to find out why he thought that.”

“Not without contacting his daughter,” he said quietly. “And that’s going to put her at risk.” He pursed his lips.

“We could get someone else to contact her,” Lex said, arching an eyebrow.

“Do you have someone in mind?” He glanced over at Lex.

“I could ask Lois?” Chloe suggested, pursing her lips together. 

“Could be, or Clark,” Lex said with a shrug.

He drew in a breath, nodding. “Either one,” he agreed.

“I think he would suspect Lois less,” Chloe told Lex quietly, pursing her lips together. That and Clark would probably demand more answers than Lois as far as she and Oliver were concerned. 

“Since he doesn’t know her?” Oliver guessed.

“Yeah,” she told Oliver. “She isn’t here, she doesn’t even have the same last name as me. I don’t think Lionel would think of her.”

“Probably not,” Lex said, leaning against the wall. “Unless he has more bugs somewhere. Or cameras like he does all over the mansion.” 

Chloe stilled at that, her eyes widening as she glanced over at Oliver. Cameras? All over the mansion? He’s probably known about them since Christmas. 

Oliver shut his eyes at that, rubbing his hands over his face and feeling sick with dread. 

“What?” Lex asked, staring at the two of them suspiciously.

“Chloe spent some time at the mansion while you and Lionel were in Metropolis over Christmas break,” he said, not looking at the other man.

Lex’s eyes narrowed a little at Chloe at the information. 

With a deep breath she leaned heavily against her desk. “We should have known.”

Oliver rose to his feet, beginning to pace the floor slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. His chest felt tight, like he couldn’t quite breathe right and he felt sick to his stomach. Why the hell hadn’t he thought about the possibility that Lionel was tracking his every move? He should’ve _known_ that.

“I was thinking that maybe we could find a safe place for Oliver, and for you, if you need one,” she told Lex. “I just have no idea where to go, but if we start looking more into your dad, neither one of you will be safe.” And the thought that Lionel would actually hurt his own son to get it his way was worse than anything else, because it made it clear just how far he was willing to go.

Lex looked at her skeptically. “My father usually gets whatever it is that he wants. I’m not saying I’m not willing to help, or to try, but let’s be realistic. If he sets out to do something, what chance do we really have of stopping him?” 

“A good one,” she said firmly, staring at him. “Oliver and I managed to stop him from taking Queen Industries, it’s what he’s really after. Oliver has people helping him with the business stuff, but as long as Lionel had no idea we’re working together, and as long as we _do_ stick together and trust each other, I think we can, at the very least, find out the truth.” 

“So you want us to keep pretending like we despise each other?” Oliver questioned, stopping in his pacing and glancing over at her. 

“Yeah, like normal. Don’t over do it, Lionel is smart.” She took a deep breath and looked at Lex. “And despite everything, he’s still your dad. So, you need to make sure you want to help us with this, because if we have evidence, things could get... complicated.” 

“I’m not sure if acting normal will work,” Lex admitted, looking uncomfortable. “When I overheard Oliver accusing him of causing your accident, I yelled at him.” 

Chloe paused at the information, looking over at Oliver for confirmation. It wasn’t like Lex at all to lose his composure, he was always creepily good about keeping it together.

Oliver arched his eyebrows a little, pursing his lips and nodding ever-so-slightly in agreement. “And maybe it would psych Lionel out more if suddenly Lex and I weren’t enemies.” 

“You don’t think he would know you’re up to something if you were suddenly getting along?” Chloe asked. 

Lex considered for a moment, then shook his head. “He wouldn’t feel as in control, I think it’d piss him off more, but he wouldn’t know what to expect.”

Oliver nodded, glancing at Lex and then at Chloe. This was way too weird.

“Okay,” she breathed, looking between the two of them, uncertain. “I guess we have a plan?” 

“I guess we do,” Oliver agreed.

Lex smirked a little as something suddenly occurred to him. 

“What is it?” Chloe asked Lex, squinting a little. 

“I was just imagining the look on Clark’s face when Oliver comes to sit down at lunch with us.” 

“Oh.” Chloe grinned a little and held her breath as she looked over at Oliver. She wasn’t too worried about Clark, but she was looking forward to having Oliver sitting with them at lunch and to not having to hide to talk to him anymore.

Oliver smiled faintly back at Chloe, holding his breath. He just hoped that he and Lex were right about this being the best way to throw Lionel off guard. Because he had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be as easy as he hoped.


	3. Chapter 3

  


It was ten minutes ‘til lunch when Oliver made his way into the Torch office. He still felt overwhelmed by everything that had happened, by everything that _was_ happening, but at least he and Chloe didn’t have to hide their relationship anymore. That was a plus. “Hey.” He smiled faintly as he stepped inside.

She looked up from the stack of files she was organizing with one hand and held her breath when she looked at him, smiling. “Hey,” she greeted, setting the papers she was holding down on top of the others.

“How’s it going?” he asked softly, walking farther inside the office, toward her desk.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “I had this period off, so I was trying to organize my archives.” She took a couple steps toward him. “How are you doing?”

“I cut out on the last few minutes of study hall,” he said, shrugging.

“No.” She walked past him and closed the door then turned toward him again. “How are you doing with everything?” They hadn’t really had time to talk this morning since Lex had stayed there until the bell rang.

“A little weirded out,” he admitted, looking down at the floor. “But I’ll be fine.” 

“I’m glad I don’t have to hide in the janitor’s closet to talk to you anymore,” she said quietly, stepping in front of him and cocking her head as she tried to catch his eye.

He couldn’t help but look up at her and smile at that. “Hey now, we have some pretty good memories from that janitor’s closet,” he teased.

“We do, and, we can still meet there occasionally,” she teased, reaching for his hand with her good one. “But, I think this will be good too. For all of us.”

He slid his arms around her gently and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I love you,” he murmured. 

Chloe paused, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around him. “I love you, too,” she whispered quietly, her chest tight.

Oliver exhaled, relaxing into the hug and resting his head atop hers. “We should think about heading to lunch.” 

“Yeah,” she whispered, lifting her head after a moment and looking up at him.

He smiled softly, then kissed her on the mouth, reaching down and taking her good hand. “You realize what this means, right?” 

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little. “The cheerleading squad will be lining up outside to try and beat me up for stealing you.”

He laughed involuntarily. “No, not what I was going for at all, actually.” 

She couldn’t help but smile when he laughed, at least he was relaxing. “What, then?”

“This means I get to carry your books for you,” he said lightly.

“Oh, I didn’t realize that was a thing,” she said, holding her breath and smiling softly. 

“Well, it is when you have a broken arm.” 

“I will definitely not say no to that until the cast is off,” she admitted, smiling more. “But after that, I’m good.”

“Good.” He kissed her forehead. “Now just show me which books we need.” 

She leaned in and kissed him one more time before pulling away and walking over to the couch. “These three,” she said as she stacked them. “Although, we can share in biology, so you don’t have to carry two of those ridiculous things around.”

Oliver smiled, picking up her books and holding out his arm. “Shall we go?” 

Chloe held her breath and nodded a little as she slid her phone in her pocket then took his arm. She shouldn’t be feeling nervous, Lionel already knew anyway and he was the main reason they were keeping this quiet. But considering how bad it had been after people found out they had kissed thanks to the papers, she was a little nervous about how this was going to change things.

* * * 

Clark was sitting beside Lana at the lunch table already when a hush fell over the cafeteria. Frowning, he turned and looked toward the door, staring when Chloe was escorted inside on Oliver’s arm. 

Chloe felt like she was in some stupid movie when most everyone fell silent and turned to stare at them. She held her breath and looked up at Oliver but stood up straighter even as silence was replaced by whispers. 

“Just ignore them,” he said softly, dipping his head to whisper in her ear. He guided her toward the table where Clark, Lana and Lex were already seated.

“Right, easy,” she whispered back to him but smirked as she did. Her smirk grew when she saw the look on Lex’s face, and noticed he was completely focused on Clark, like he didn’t want to miss a second of his reaction. 

Lana, however was smiling at them, and Chloe wasn’t sure what to make of _that_.

Oliver set her books down on the table, waiting for her to sit down before he sat down beside her. “Clark, Lana.” He nodded at each of them and then looked at Lex. “Hey, Lex.” 

Lex adjusted on his seat, but the smirk remained on his face. “Hey,” he answered distractedly. 

Clark frowned harder when Lex answered Oliver, then looked at Chloe and shook his head. “What is going on?” 

“What do you mean?” She asked innocently. 

Lana looked confused now, too. “Well, normally Oliver and Lex don’t really...talk.” 

“Well, my near death experience put things in perspective for them,” Chloe teased, looking between Lex and Oliver to see if they were going to let her get away with that.

Oliver and Lex looked at one another, and Oliver pursed his lips. “That’s basically accurate,” he agreed, nodding.

Lex shrugged and leaned back against his chair. “Guess you could say that.” 

Chloe nodded, looking over at Clark. “It’s not a bad thing, so, it’s no big deal.”

Oliver rested his hand on her leg, squeezing it gently. “All right. I’ll go grab us some lunch,” he told her.

She held her breath a little and looked up at him, nodding. “Thanks.”

He smiled softly at her, nodding and rising to his feet, heading toward the lunch line. 

Lana arched her eyebrows, smiling again and shaking her head. “I _knew_ he had a thing for you.” 

“You did?” Clark asked, his eyes still wide as he turned to look at Lana. 

Chloe couldn’t help but blush a little as she shook her head. She would say more, about how amazing Ollie was, but she didn’t want to push it in front of Lex. She needed him not to feel threatened by Oliver and vice versa.

“Women know these things,” Lana said with a nod, smiling at Clark and then looking over at Chloe. 

Lex rolled his eyes at that, taking a bite of his salad. 

“Did you know too?” Clark asked Lex, shaking his head. 

“Look, Clark, everyone else is already whispering and people will make a big deal about it,” Chloe said, sitting up. “Just give Oliver a chance? Lex is.” Or at least he was pretending to for now, but still.

Lana nodded slightly, glancing at Clark again. “We will, won’t we, Clark?” 

Clark stared at Chloe for a moment, then turned to look at Lana and sighed softly before nodding. 

“Thank you,” Chloe said, mostly at Lana then relaxed.

Lana smiled at her. “No problem, Chloe.” She looked up as Oliver returned carrying two trays. 

He set one down in front of Chloe carefully, then set his own tray beside hers, sitting down again. “Pizza,” he announced.

“Pizza on a Monday? It’s like they like us, or something,” Chloe teased, brightening a little when he sat down next to her. 

Oliver smiled at her. “Or something,” he agreed, picking up his fork to start in on his salad.

She pulled her hand from the sling and shifted closer to the table, glancing over her shoulder and holding her breath when she noticed several people look away before focusing on the pizza. 

“It won’t last,” Lex said, looking at Chloe.

“He’s right,” Oliver agreed softly. “And we’d know.” 

Chloe let out a breath and nodded a little, looking between the two of them. “I don’t know how you guys stand it,” she commented, shaking her head. 

Lana agreed, shaking her head. “Me either.” 

“You ignore it after a while,” Lex said, pushing his tray away.

“That’s really all you can do,” Oliver told her, shrugging.

“Guess I’ll learn,” she said, arching her eyebrows a little and taking a bite of her pizza. At least having Oliver, Clark, Lex and even Lana there should help.

* * *

Lex pulled up to the mansion and arched an eyebrow at Oliver. “He’s home,” he told him, seeing his dad’s car parked by the front stairs. 

“Lucky us,” he murmured, staring at the car for a long moment, shifting in the passenger seat of Lex’s car. He’d been grounded from using his own.

He parked behind his dad’s car and nodded. “We should have Chloe come over, that’ll piss him off.” He smirked.

Oliver glanced at him sideways. “I’m sure it would, but...I don’t know that it wouldn’t endanger her life even more.” His voice was quiet.

“Everyone is keeping an eye on her now,” Lex reminded him.

He drew in a breath, nodding slightly and looking out the windshield again. “True.” 

Lex stared at him for a moment then got out of the car, reaching in the back seat to grab his backpack. Oliver did the same a moment later, glancing at Lex sideways as they headed toward the front door. This should be interesting, he thought.

“Library,” Lex said as he slipped inside, knowing they had to walk past the study to get there.

At that, Oliver smirked, following him inside and then walking with him side-by-side. “How was the rest of your day?” he asked, not quietly.

“Fine, I’m not as interesting to the rest of the school right now,” Lex said easily. “Yours?”

He smirked a bit more. “Could’ve been worse. At least I don’t have to hide things with Chloe anymore.” 

Lex smirked, too, and shook his head. “Still can’t get over the look on Clark’s face.”

At that, Oliver actually chuckled. “He was definitely floored.” 

“He’s an idiot,” Lex said, shaking his head. “Pretty sure he expected her to follow him around forever.”

“His loss,” he said with a shrug. 

“It is,” Lex agreed, slowing down once they were about to cross in front of the study, smirking when he saw the double doors were open. “Do you have homework?”

“Yeah, some. Not too much,” he stated. “What about you?” 

“Some,” he echoed. “Wanna go get started? You can’t go to the Sullivan’s anyway.” He raised his voice just a little. 

“Yeah, might as well get it done. Maybe we can play poker or something later.” He raised his voice a little, too.

“We’ll have to bet higher than cash,” he warned but smirked, looking inside the study and narrowing his eyes at Lionel as they passed, but not saying anything to him.

“We could bet on who drives to school tomorrow.” He smirked.

Lex considered that for a moment. “As a start.”

“Always has to be a starting place,” he said quietly, glancing at Lex sideways.

Lex nodded a little. “We should have a party,” he said, lowering his voice for pretend because he didn’t care if Lionel heard, in fact, he hoped he would. 

“A huge party,” he agreed, grinning.

“Since you can’t leave the mansion,” Lex said with a shrug. “Spring break is in two weeks.”

“Should be sufficient time to plan the ultimate spring break bash.” 

“Set up tents in the back yard, have it last a few days.” Lex grinned as he planned. Ruin as much property as possible. 

Oliver couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. “Works for me.” 

* * * 

Chloe was more than a little nervous when she finally heard her dad getting home. She had even asked Scott, who was also working at the Torch now, if he could drive her back early so she could make sure she was there when her dad arrived because she guessed he had already heard something. 

She had been pacing the kitchen as she waited for him to come in, but when he didn’t, she made her way over to the front door. Her dad’s car was parked in the driveway, but right next to it was a red, convertible sports car, Chloe wasn’t sure which kind but looked like a Porsche. Considering Ollie wasn’t allowed to have a car for the time being, she was sure either Lex or worse, Lionel were outside so she took a deep, shaky breath and stepped out. “Dad?” She called when she saw him examining the car.

Just as she started toward him, she kicked something over the welcome mat and paused when she saw car keys on the ground. With a deep breath, she picked them up and stared at them, definitely a Porsche.

“Any idea where _this_ came from?” he questioned, turning to look at her with raised eyebrows. “This wasn’t a gift from your boyfriend, was it?” 

She nearly cringed at the word boyfriend but took a deep breath and shook her head. “I just saw it was here, the keys were on the porch,” She said, holding them up as she walked over to the car.

“So you don’t know where it came from?” He frowned at that, looking from her to the car and back again.

“No,” she said honestly, hesitating then reaching to unlock the door and pausing when she saw a card on the driver’s seat. With a deep breath, she opened it and read it:   
_Chloe,  
The least I could do. _

_LL_

“What does it say?” he asked.

“It’s from Lex,” she told him quietly, holding her breath. It wasn’t like she could tell her dad that his boss had tried to kill her. She had complicated his life enough as it was.

“Why on earth would Lex Luthor buy you a car?” Gabe asked, puzzled.

“We’re friends and, I guess it’s kind of what he does? He got Clark a truck when he totaled the old one.” She closed the door and turned to look at her dad. “Can we go inside?”

He frowned at that, looking at her intently. “Yes, let’s go inside. We have some conversations to have, apparently.” 

She’d been expecting that, not the ridiculously expensive car, so she nodded and headed back toward the house.

He followed her inside, setting down his briefcase and taking off his jacket. After hanging it up, he motioned to the kitchen table. “I think you have some news you forgot to tell me.” 

Chloe set the keys and the card on the table then sat down. “I swear people in this town work faster than Inquisitor reporters,” she muttered. 

He smiled very faintly at that. “I think it’s a small town curse, Chloe.” 

She took a deep breath and nodded a little. “It’s true,” she said sincerely. “About Oliver.”

“I figured, considering the pictures of the two of you holding hands.” He sat down at the table across from her.

“There are pictures?” Chloe asked, eyes widening. “Cell phone pictures or front page pictures?”

“Cell phone, but I have a feeling they’ll be on the front page by morning,” he told her, pursing his lips.

She sighed a little and nodded. “Yeah, I expected as much. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, Dad, I am,” she told him. “I just didn’t want you to hate him because of what Lionel did.”

“I don’t hate him, Chlo-bug. I don’t know him,” he said honestly. “But that’s going to have to change.” 

“I know.” She smiled a little and shrugged. “I’m actually kind of looking forward to having you two meet. I think you will get along.” She paused and arched her eyebrows. “You know the leftover lasagna you really liked last week?”

He arched an eyebrow. “That you said came from Mrs. Kent?” 

“Yeah,” she said quietly, smiling and shrugging. “Ollie made it.”

“He can cook?” He cocked his head to look at her.

“Really well, obviously,” she grinned a little at that then took a deep breath. “My point is, he’s a really good guy. He cooks at the kitchen I volunteer at for school. He goes at least twice a week.”

“Voluntarily, or because of school?” 

“Voluntarily, but he doesn’t want anyone to know, so don’t tell him I told you,” she added. 

“Why on earth wouldn’t he want anyone to know?” he asked, shaking his head and frowning.

Chloe took a deep breath and shrugged a little. “Everything he does turns into a huge deal, I guess he just enjoys doing something nice for people and not being expected to do more because of who he is.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” he said slowly.

She pursed her lips together and nodded. “He’s also very lonely,” she told him quietly, her chest tightening and she suddenly wished she could see him. “I think helping them helps him, too.”

“Helping others does tend to make a person feel better about themselves.” Gabe pursed his lips, studying her for a long moment. “You really care about him.” 

“Yeah,” she admitted quietly, smiling at her dad. “And it’s actually mutual this time,” she joked. 

“Well, he obviously has better taste than--” Gabe paused, shaking his head. “A certain farmboy.” 

Chloe grinned at that and shook her head. “It’s okay, dad. Clark is still my friend, but that’s all I want him to be now,” she assured him. He had always been really supportive of her when she had had a bad day because Clark had dropped her for Lana or something like that, she figured he’d be happy about this, at least.

He studied her closely for a moment, eyes widening just a little as he realized she really was over Clark. “Well, I think this calls for a celebration. Maybe you should call Oliver and ask him to bake a cake,” he joked.

“He would do it, too, if he wasn’t grounded,” she told him with a smile. 

“Ah. Lionel.” He pursed his lips.

Her face fell and she nodded. “He only has a few more months before he turns eighteen and he doesn’t have to live with Lionel anymore. But I think that now that we have nothing to hide, he won’t try to use it against us.” 

Gabe was silent for a moment. “Are the two of you sleeping together?” he asked, voice quiet and serious.

Chloe’s eyes widened at the question, she wasn’t expecting it, not considering Lois was the only person who had given her any form of sex talk. “No, DDad,” she said honestly. They might have slept in the same bed several times, but she knew that wasn’t what he meant, so she didn’t feel like she was lying. 

He relaxed a little, leaning back in the chair. “Good. So he’s not pressuring you in any way?” 

“He’s really respectful,” she said, not at all comfortable with this situation, especially when she couldn’t wait to get rid of the cast so she could make sure Ollie kept his promise of not being so respectful. 

“That’s what I like to hear.” He smiled.


End file.
